I would assume community / content would be more of a reason to move on from a forum.

I stick here because of community / content. Otherwise, I would have moved on. I am kidding (little bit -- I wouldn't leave a forum over stuff like layout as long as the community/content is good.)

Regardless, I still prefer that over the way we have it here. You seem to be a fan of the traditional forum set-up.

The community/content are harder to explore when you have to sort through four different categories in one section. PS4/PS4 games/PS3/PS3 games, all in the same section... no thanks. Yes, the traditional forum set up is a lot easier to engage with the community and content; at least for me it is.

The community/content are harder to explore when you have to sort through four different categories in one section. PS4/PS4 games/PS3/PS3 games, all in the same section... no thanks. Yes, the traditional forum set up is a lot easier to engage with the community and content; at least for me it is.

I disagree. I don't see how it is any harder than getting a vertical list of forums on a separate page -- which you have to return to, to browse to another forum/section. I'll just leave it at this.

To be clear, I am not saying the traditional set-up doesn't work, it's what a lot of people are familiar with. I just prefer the other set-up. We just have difference preferences.

Ugh, I can't take a few minutes there and leave.

People are different. GameSpot forums are pretty active (and content / community will always be the main thing people return for -- if they find it easier then all the better.) I can understand that it's not your cup of tea.

EDIT

Also, to clarify -- in the approach I put together (I left out some details just to get the point across) -- the forums are still separate, they are just accessed in a different manner. They don't all exist in the same section. You can still have your "main" forum view.

Think of it as navigation that is persistent on all pages (I was just saying that it works like a filter, not that it is one.)

Harder to explore, not harder to navigate. When I say "explore" I mean looking for content that you are interested in.

For example, the Sony section Gamespot has.. where do I find the content for the Vita discussions? I have to sort through pages and pages. Here, I can click on the Vita section, and the Vita discussion is there. Nothing to sort through except for the Vita content. Likewise for the other systems.

I register at a bunch of places... never know when you'll want to check something out; and have your name already registered there. I also contribute to to some forum tech stuff for a handful of places.

I am adding a Twitch TV section for somewhere in the PlayStation section. It will have a subsection for community streams too. PSU is going balls deep into the Twitch thing as we attempt to integrate it as another way for members to enagege with the site and the forums. With the current discussion regarding this section already, I wanted to let you know what needs to be added so you can give some feedback as to how you'd like this stuff arranged. So if you have any suggestions as to how the current forum layout could be improved, give us some ideas. I'm a visual guy so lets try this format:

SECTION NAME IN CAPS
Main Sections like this
- add a dash to donate sub forums

I think leading up to next gen is a good time for us to have a review of the whole forum and explore possibilities for streamlining/better layout. Like I said before, exploring possibilities doesn't hurt and it may well be that it stays exactly the same and I put this Twitch TV in PS chat area as Steven requested but let's have a ponder about how things could be...we may just find something surprising!

Harder to explore, not harder to navigate. When I say "explore" I mean looking for content that you are interested in.

For example, the Sony section Gamespot has.. where do I find the content for the Vita discussions? I have to sort through pages and pages. Here, I can click on the Vita section, and the Vita discussion is there. Nothing to sort through except for the Vita content. Likewise for the other systems.

That's because they don't have a Vita section. If they did, it would be listed along the other forums and after clicking on it (just like you would here) you'd see the Vita discussion. Same thing with my approach, there is a Vita section listed, you just click on that and see the Vita discussion.

I don't think it's harder to explore. I think it's flexible -- so if you don't want to have PS4 and PS4 games in one section, you don't have to. If that is your point, I see it that, but I don't think the filter/side-bar layouts are detriment to that (that's not why I think having a filter/persistent side-bar is better.)

So, to be clear, if you are talking about how GameSpot has it organized, I can see that. If you are specifically talking about the functionality of how they have it / what I showed, then I disagree.

Also I am not necessarily saying we should eliminate sections (someone else brought up a good point why we shouldn't, which I did agree with which I hadn't considered earlier.) Not with the two approaches I like (the main reason I like them, we don't necessarily need to get rid of sections to be able to bring up content.)

EDIT

Honestly, I think combining of sections and what works better over what doesn't is a different discussion. It has nothing to do with the traditional set-up over what I was suggesting.

If PSU was set-up the same way as I showed, we could still be having this discussion. By showing what GameSpot is doing and what I illustrated, I was suggesting moving to something like that would be easier to bring up content (topics, etc) that are relevant to you. If you disagree with that, then I won't convince you. I definitely don't agree that content is harder to find.

I register at a bunch of places... never know when you'll want to check something out; and have your name already registered there. I also contribute to to some forum tech stuff for a handful of places.

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